


hummock

by TheFreakWithTheWings



Series: Word a Day [24]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Berserker!Chad, Dragon!Tatsuki, Gen, Knight!Ichigo, Mage!Ishida, Princess!Orihime, even though she never shows up in the fic it's still relevant, technically but he never enters a berserker rage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 20:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17773703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFreakWithTheWings/pseuds/TheFreakWithTheWings
Summary: hummock: a rounded knoll or hillock"The dragon's presence has likely made everything in the area magical enough to develop a degree of sentience. Of course, it would be impossible to tell unless Urahara had decided to come with us," Ishida paused to shudder delicately at the thought. "We might be fortunate that the only thing they can do right now is try to hit us."





	hummock

"What is with all of these damn trees?" Ichigo cursed as he dodged yet another tree limb as it tried to swat him. Moving about in the full armor needed for dragon slaying was tiring, and it felt like he had been doing it all day.

Ishida set the tree that tried to take Ichigo's head off on fire while Chad pulled a young tree clear out of the ground. It wiggled pathetically in his grasp before going still.

"The dragon's presence has likely made everything in the area magical enough to develop a degree of sentience. Of course, it would be impossible to tell unless Urahara had decided to come with us," Ishida paused to shudder delicately at the thought. "We might be fortunate that the only thing they can do right now is try to hit us."

"Don't jinx us," Chad said.

"About Urahara or the trees?" Ishida asked.

"Both."

They continued to fight their way through the forest, slashing and burning at any tree that so much as twitched suspiciously. The harsh morning sunlight softened into afternoon as they worked, each of them sweating heavily.

Finally, Chad said "We're lost."

Ichigo paused to squint at their surroundings. The evil trees weren't showing any sign of having been burned, hacked by a giant sword, or shredded, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about the part of the forest they had found themselves in. "Have we passed that hill before?"

"It's really more of a hummock," Ishida corrected. "But yes, yes we have."

The would-be dragon slayers all exchanged disturbed looks.

"There's only one person strong enough to put up that kind of ward around here," Ichigo finally said.

"Princess Inoue," Chad agreed.

"Which means either the dragon has somehow coerced the princess into putting up this misdirection ward, or she chose to do it," Ishida said.

The sound of someone behind them beginning to clap mockingly startled the adventurers, and they all whipped around, chosen weapons at the ready. The source was a woman with short, dark hair, wearing some sort of armor made out of scales and a mocking grin.

"Took you long enough to figure it out. Orihime thought that it would only take you guys a couple of minutes to realize what was going on," the woman said, her tone as insulting as possible.

"How do you know the princess?" Ishida asked, his eyes narrowed. 

The woman waved a nonchalant hand through the air, her posture relaxed and casual, although their was a gleam of impish delight in her eyes. "Oh, Orihime and I go way back."

"Funny that we've never heard of you," Ichigo said, outright glaring at the dismissive woman, but making no move to actually attack. The fact that she could be so laid back when faced with three highly skilled warriors was concerning, an indication that she didn't think them a threat.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get acquainted with each other before too long,” the woman said, her grin just slightly too long and sharp to be human. With that parting remark, the woman disappeared.

This rescue was definitely going to more complicated than it had seemed.

**Author's Note:**

> My favorite part of these is not having to come up with titles.
> 
> Also, I should mention that I intend to continue a lot of these at a later date. Coming up with like 30 ideas for stories that can be continued whenever is a lot easier than coming up with 365.


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